Grass Valley man ejected, killed as vehicle rolls down hill

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A Grass Valley man was killed Sunday after being thrown from his vehicle as it rolled down a steep hill off Purdon Road on his way back from the Yuba River.

Steven Talbott, 52, was returning from the river at approximately 1:15 p.m. Sunday, a warm sunny day in Nevada County, with Erick Glebov, another Grass Valley man who was Talbott’s passenger in a 1999 GMC Suburban, reported the California Highway Patrol.

For an undetermined reason, Talbott allowed his vehicle’s right-side tires to drift off the edge of the steep embankment on the west side of the road, the CHP reported. Due to the steep embankment, the vehicle started to slide down the hill and overturned twice, ejecting Talbott, who was not wearing a seat belt, and then came to rest approximately 80 feet down the embankment on its wheels.

“The vehicle went tumbling off that very steep hill there,” said Mark Buttron, a battalion chief with Nevada County Consolidated Fire Department.

Glebov was unharmed and climbed out of the vehicle and up the hill to flag down assistance, but responding emergency medical personnel declared Talbott deceased at the scene, reported the Consolidated personnel.

Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor, CHP reported. However, further investigation is being conducted.

“This is another example of where there is a significant chance there would be minor or no injuries if he had been wearing a seat belt,” said Greg Tassone, a CHP public information officer. “His passenger, who was wearing a seat belt, was fine.”

In addition to CHP and Consolidated, personnel from Nevada City and Grass Valley fire departments, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, an ambulance from Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital and a tow company responded to the incident.

Purdon Road was closed for approximately five hours during emergency crews’ response to the incident, CHP reported.